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Residents waiting for water

Mt. Pleasant city officials are continuing the search for ways to help a community where many citizens must boil creek water or use bottled water for their daily supply.

Mt. Joy’s spring-fed water supply rapidly diminished during a dry summer, and in June citizens expressed interest in obtaining water lines from Mt. Pleasant as a remedy. Mt. Joy sits between the Maury and Lewis county borders, and the closest water lines to the town are in Mt. Pleasant.

Several attempts to obtain project funding were unsuccessful last year, and applying for a federal grant or loan was determined as the best option for Mt. Joy.

Mt. Pleasant City Manager Michelle Williams said the city submitted two U.S. Department of Agriculture applications at the end of January to help fund the estimated $275,000 water line project.

The city applied for a $275,000 rural utility service loan/grant. The USDA will decide what percentage of the amount to award in grants. Additional funding could be awarded as a loan, and Mt. Pleasant would be responsible for paying it back.

“There are several different factors that the USDA uses in what percentage is grant and what percentage is loan,” Williams said. “I think per capita income and things like that (are considered).”

A $150,000 emergency water assistance grant application was also submitted, although Williams said the city may not be awarded the full amount. After the award amounts are determined, both monies can be used to fund the project.

Williams could offer no timeline as to when the grants could be awarded and said “it is up to the federal government” how long it would take.

Mt. Joy resident Carolyn Mathis said the town’s spring is still dry and not getting any better. She said many residents are using creek and bottled water for daily needs.

“We are going to have to do something,” Mathis said. “We can’t keep doing what we are doing.”

Tapping into Mt. Pleasant’s water supply could come with certain problems, evidenced by a boil water alert issued on Jan. 16. A water sample showed high turbidity, or cloudiness, that was above allowed Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation standards. A boil water alert was issued to about 2,300 customers as a precautionary measure and then lifted on Jan. 18.

Mathis said the prospect of having to boil her water occasionally does not deter her from wanting Mt. Pleasant’s water.

“I think probably those things are things that they will work through and get straightened out,” Mathis said. “At least I think they will.”

Mt. Pleasant is working on a new $9 million water treatment plant project to replace its current ailing system, Williams said. The entire project should be completed in 2014, she added.

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